DISCLAIMER:            This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Many thanks to my beta reader, Niamh. Her own fic, To the Honour of the Mother is well worth reading.

Albus II

I wonder why everyone seems to think I have all the answers?

I don't. Omnipotence and omniscience are oft-used words, but they hold little weight. I'm just as confused about the state of our world as everyone else, yet for some obscure reason I'm supposed to solve both the mundane realities of a school and the profane eventualities of a war.

I've never had all the answers. Like a master magician, I just know how to put on a good show.

Severus is my most pressing concern. Of all those I watch, he worries me the most.

I can see him retreating into despair and the inevitable realisation that a monster marks his time.

Like an ascetic perched on his pillar, he has sought to distance himself from the world; creating an impenetrable aura of a mean spirited, aloof and socially inept man, bent on attaining his perfection.

The wish to remove himself from the pressing concerns of the earth, the trifles of Wizards and his part as their pawn.

The leap towards the perfect lack of emotion and henceforth – oblivion.

What Severus could have been without an error of judgement and what he has become are complete opposites. For a man to have so many glimpses at what could have been, he has become his own worst enemy.

It all ties back to Riddle.

If I do nothing else in the time I have left, I will seek to eliminate his influence and spectre from polluting another generation.

My own frailty of spirit senses that this is unattainable, but I refuse to go quietly.

Four students have received the mark in the last two days, twenty in the last month. I had hoped that Hogwarts and the ideas of equality, excellence and community, might have forestalled their participation.

House or blood loyalty means little. Whilst Slytherin claims the latest four, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and a lone Hufflepuff share the dishonour.

They are another flay of the whip of self-flagellation that Severus performs daily, and a festering sore on his already bruised heart.

They take his precarious position and make it ever more difficult. Any show of remorse, sentiment and regret will instantly find itself back to Riddle, as we have spies following the most consummate of spies.

He cannot take much more. None of us can.

Minerva seems to be the only one who takes his misery and seeks to goad him into some show of presence.

Their tale has spread the length and breadth of the school, no matter the attempts to dissuade any gossip.

I fear for Sir Nicholas and the Baron if Severus ever finds out their part in the dissemination of the story. I don't think he has ever realised the place the house ghosts have at Hogwarts; their sentinel and protective duties are the least understood part of their individual roles.

Early the next morning…

I tried to get Severus to give me more details about his meeting last night. It was not forthcoming. All he could say was that Lucius had taught his son well.

I dread to think what that means, though if the haunted look in Severus' face was any guide, I will do just as well not to know.

The other, dare I say it trifling details were also skirted briefly. The presence of Remus' latest intelligence effectively sobered everyone, Severus included.

Seven students are now orphaned. The attacks, whilst seemingly random, have a disturbing pattern. Though many of the more narrow minded students will see the deaths of two Slytherin families as a lesson or example of faithlessness, such inane prejudice is what keeps us bound to mediaeval ideas of purity.

Remus' news, detailed though it was still leaves the most important of unanswered questions.

When, how and who?

I'm not even sure we'll win and that scares me.

I've cancelled all off grounds activities, Hogsmeade of course being the most notable. Quidditch cannot resume until I have further strengthened the wards surrounding the stadium, effectively making it an island of protection.

I cannot stop everything, for to do so is effectively an affirmation that Riddle has me worried.

I wonder how long it will take everyone else to realise that 'worried' is somewhat of an understatement?

In spirit lands and with heart held high

Resilience will ever win the day…

In that rather twee way, old friend, do I take it you have begun to spin the gifts?

Yes.

As always, constructive criticism, comments and reviews are most welcome. It only takes a minute and I would appreciate the feedback.